Crianlarich (; ) is a village in Stirling council area and in the

registration county A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration purpose ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, around north-east of the head of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

. The village bills itself as "the gateway to the Highlands".

Etymology

The name ''Crianlarich'' is derived probably from the Gaelic meaning either "the wasted site" or "the

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

site" (cf. Gaelic ''critheann'', "aspen").

Situation

The village lies in the valley of Strath Fillan at the north western extent of the Trossachs, in the shadow of several

Munro A Munro (; ) is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevi ...

peaks, notably Ben More, but also Stob Binnein and Cruach Ardrain. Thus Crianlarich is very popular with hillwalkers. Also the village lies along the long-distance footpath, the

West Highland Way The West Highland Way () is a linear Long-distance trail, long-distance route in Scotland. It is long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William, Highland, Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with an element of hill walking i ...

. Its location makes Crianlarich a popular stop for tourists and there are a variety of types of overnight accommodation including guesthouses, B&Bs, a youth hostel operated by Hostelling Scotland, and a

Best Western Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...

hotel.

Transport connections

Crianlarich has been a major crossroads for north- and westbound journeys in Scotland since

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times. In the 1750s, two military roads met in the village; in the 19th century, it became a railway junction on what is now the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( – "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of indepen ...

; in the 20th century it became the meeting point of the major A82 and A85 roads. As such, it is designated a primary destination in Scotland, signposted from as far as

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in the south,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in the east,

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

in the west and Fort William in the north. In the 1960s there was even a direction sign for Crianlarich at Swiss Cottage at Camden in London. Since 2016 the A82 by-passes the centre of the village to avoid the low railway bridge. The village is served by Crianlarich railway station located on the

. The routes to Fort William/ Mallaig and

diverge after this station. Access to the platform is via a flight of stairs from a subway that runs underneath the tracks, from the car park which is slightly lower than the station itself. It is also served by a Scottish Citylink coach service up to hourly from Glasgow going on about every two hours to either Oban or Fort William. In 2001, the village had a population of 185.

Lochan Saorach

In nearby Glen Dochart lies Lochan Saorach, mentioned by

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (16 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he had ...

in 1769 on account of the

floating island A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from several centimeters to a few meters. Sometimes referred to as ''tussocks'', ''floatons'', or ''suds'', floating islands are found in many parts of t ...

it once contained.

Gallery

File:Crianlarich War Memorial.JPG, Crianlarich War Memorial File:Caledonian Sleeper, Crianlarich (geograph 4963273).jpg, The Line to Fort William File:Crianlarich Station. - panoramio.jpg, Crianlarich station File:Road signs in Crianlarich - geograph.org.uk - 936083.jpg, Meeting of the ways File:Crianlarich munros map.jpg, The Crianlarich Munros

References

External links

Crianlarich local community website
Villages in Stirling (council area) {{Stirling-geo-stub